Toasted Tweet

For some years now, I have written in these pages about the zaniness of the modern environmentalist movement. This movement is essentially driven by devotees of a neo-Romantic nature cult, Gaia worship. One of the more amusing aspects of this cult is its lack of logical consistency — but then, religious cults are usually illogical, no? One of the most delicious examples of this Gaiaist inconsistency can be found in energy policy and the protection of animal species.

I refer today to the curious fact that environmentalists tout the saving of endangered species — especially attractive avian species (eagles, hawks, owls, etc.) — but also demand the use of energy producing mechanisms that destroy animals. As I have noted before, enviros just love massive wind farms. They want to see millions of wind turbines spread across the country, no matter how insanely inefficient and costly wind power is. But it turns out that wind turbines kill hundreds of thousands of birds every year, including the aforementioned raptors (eagles, hawks, and owls). I have called this phenomenon “Shredded Tweet.”

So, if an industry that enviros don’t like (which is most industry, naturally) is alleged to kill some birds, it must be shut down. Thus the timber industry in the Northwest was hammered to the wall by the enviro regulators, throwing massive numbers of forestry workers out of work because of allegations that it was hurting the spotted owl population. (It appears the real culprit was a competing species, the barred owl). But it’s OK if a million times more birds are proven to be annihilated by the wind turbines . . . the enviros don’t give a tail feather.

Unnamed regulators cited in the story say that while they expected some birds to be killed once the plant fired up, they didn’t expect the numbers they are seeing.

The latest illustration of this bizarre inconsistency is revealed in a recent report on solar power. The article reported the opening of a massive new solar plant, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating Station in the California desert. The plant cost $2.2 billion, backed of course with a $1.6 billion federal loan guarantee. The plant includes three towers 40 stories high, supporting boilers at the top. Three hundred fifty thousand large mirrors focus sunlight onto the boilers, driving the generation of power. This new means of protecting the scenic desert is only one of several major solar projects opening in California, where state law now requires that within six years, one third of power must come from so-called “renewable” sources.

The article notes that solar power rightly has been criticized for its grotesque inefficiency. Ivanpah’s electricity costs about four times that produced by natural gas powered plants; the plant uses far more land than what a gas-fired plant would, and provides far less power.

In a stunning display of transparency, neither the California utilities that are going to buy the power nor the regulators who are pushing it will disclose the costs of this solar electricity, which some estimate at twice that of electricity produced by natural gas. The extra costs will simply be dumped on the consumers.

But a new problem has come to light. The Ivanpah-type “tower power” plants are killing birds!

Yes, call this phenomenon “toasted tweet.” The air around the towers hits about 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and as the Wingéd Gifts of Gaia fly past, they get horribly scorched. Many are dying. Unnamed regulators cited in the story say that while they expected some birds to be killed once the plant fired up, they didn’t expect the numbers they are seeing.

This is of course yet another case of statist policies producing unintended consequences, contrary to the policies’ lofty goals. As Eric Davis — who bears the beautifully bureaucratic title of “assistant regional director for migrating birds” at the US Fish and Wildlife Service — ruefully remarked, “When you have new technologies, you don’t know what the impacts are going to be.”

Yeah, tell that to be burnt birds, Gaia guys.

About this Author

Gary Jason is an academic philosopher and a senior editor of Liberty. His recent books, Disturbing Thoughts: Unorthodox Writings on Timely Issues and Philosophic Thoughts: Essays on Logic and Philosophy are both available through Amazon.